THE number of eastern European prostitutes on the streets of Birmingham is set to soar, sex health bosses warned today.

THE number of eastern European prostitutes on the streets of Birmingham is set to soar, sex health bosses warned today.

After nine young women were led from a suspected brothel in Hagley Road, Edgbaston, by police this week Sharon Myring, Birmingham's most senior sex health boss, revealed that health workers were failing to get a grip on the increasing problem.

She told the city health scrutiny committee that the incidence of street sex workers was rising, particularly in Ladywood and Edgbaston, with high rates of syphilis.

As many as one in 10 prostitutes now carry the contagious sexual infection, Miss Myring said.

She was "surprised" to hear of the first two eastern European prostitutes being picked up on street corners by police in Small Heath in what is seen as a move away from working in brothels.

"On a national level, we are starting to see more eastern European girls working on the street, putting themselves at risk," said Miss Myring.

"There are concerns that this is a trend we will start to see and I think we will begin to see more and more of it here in Birmingham.

"We haven't yet got a good grip on what is going on. It's a hidden underground area."

Miss Myring, who works for Heart of Birmingham Primary Care Trust, added: "We have found a high percentage of sex workers have syphilis, but that is just the tip of the iceberg."

Coun Deirdre Alden, health scrutiny chairman, said some nail bars were also trafficking in girls from China and Vietnam for prostitution.

Police raided a building between a Cantonese restaurant and a betting shop in Hagley Road, with a sign outside saying Studio 189, on Monday. They found eight women from Romania and one from Poland, aged between 19 and 28. A 42-year-old woman was bailed after being arrested on suspicion of managing a brothel.